Gaza aid convoy to head for Syria after Egypt talks failed

Muslim Brotherhood leader Hamam Said (left) and British MP George Galloway attend an event for members of the aid convoy ‘Lifeline-3 for Gaza' in Amman on Tuesday (Photo by Nader Daoud )

29th December 2009
By Mohammad Ben Hussein - Jordan Times

AMMAN - After spending more than three days stranded in Aqaba, the Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy headed to Gaza was forced to change its route after Egypt refused to allow it entry through the port of Nuweibeh, activists said.
The convoy will instead travel to Amman before heading to Syria to load the cargo onto a ship at the Mediterranean port of Latakia, bound for El Arish in Egypt, where Egypt receives aid to Gaza.

“This is what the Egyptians want and insist on having,” said Ala Burkan, from the Professional Associations Council, an umbrella of 14 professional associations involved in the campaign.

The decision to change the course of the journey came one day after 15 members of the delegation started a hunger strike in Aqaba to pressure Egypt to change its stance.
According to Ali Abul Sukkar, a member of the delegation, the most important thing is to enter Gaza and provide the needed help.

“We have many options to enter Gaza; now we must take another route after talks with Egypt failed to reach a breakthrough,” he said, noting the journey from Aqaba takes around eight hours while the trip to Syria will consume much more time and cost much more.

“It would have been much easier to enter through Nuweibeh and from there take the land trip to Rafah, but Egypt was not being helpful,” he told The Jordan Times.

Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza is the only access point into the Palestinian territory that bypasses Israel.
Around 450 activists from around the world are accompanying the 250 or so trucks, including left-leaning British MP George Galloway and members of the Turkish parliament.

Gaza has been placed under siege since Hamas took over nearly three years ago, with humanitarian aid entering only under strict control by Israel and Egypt.

Members of the delegation said they wanted to highlight the plight of the Gazans under the blockade and provide them with badly needed medical assistance.

The group is expected to reach Damascus by Tuesday before heading to Latakia.

The convoy includes 250 vehicles - 100 from Britain, 50 from Turkey and the rest from other parts of the world, including around 50 from Jordan.

Activists hoped they would reach Gaza by December 27, the first anniversary of Israel's deadly offensive on the enclave, which left around 1,400 Palestinians dead, including 400 children, and injured 5,000, but the date passed as they waited.

“We wanted to make it for the anniversary, but it's not very important. What is important is to reach Gaza and send our message of solidarity,” said Abul Sukkar

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